Club R Lifestyle Drive 4-29-2018

April 30, 2018July 19, 2018 / Club R / Leave a comment

Yesterday we had a spirited drive through the glorious SoCal landscape, starting in Beverly Hills and making our way up Sunset Blvd to Pacific Coast highway. Once there, we turned north and went for lunch at one of our favorite places in Malibu.

We had an eclectic mix of cars, with a Lamborghini Aventador SV, BMW E46 M3, Porsche 997.1 GT3, Audi R8 V10, BMW E93 M3, Audi A4 Convertible (the camera car), Fiat 500 Abarth, and a Subaru WRX.

Afterwards, being the drivers that we are, we hit the canyon roads in the Santa Monica Mountains for a spirited drive. Enjoy some pics below:

Will you join us for the next one?

Cheers,

-JB

V12 Badassery II – The Aventador S Track Review

September 16, 2017March 6, 2018 / Club R / Leave a comment

When we first got acquainted with the Lamborghini Aventador S, we put it through 26 blissful miles of Carmel roads, causing awe and terror with the fury of the V12 monster in full compliance with road laws. As epic as it was, it always leaves one wanting…And Lamborghini is well aware of this. So we were invited out to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana to learn about the true nature of the Aventador S and to unleash it on roads with no speed limits or civilian restrictions.

For those who didn’t read our first review or the stats, here’s a quick recap: 740 horsepower. Naturally aspirated V12. All wheel drive with rear wheel steering. And looks that make stealth fighters envious and lesser cars nervous.

On the road, you get a sense the Aventador S is always plotting new and exciting ways to terrorize everything on the road, including the driver, through sheer brute aggression. But it feels a bit civilized on the road as well, especially when compared to it’s feral brother the SV. The Aventador S is easy to drive on the road and make the savagery feel accessible and controllable, but you feel the car is held back by the invisible rules of the road. So, having the Aventador S on the track, we should expect to see just how wild this Tyrannosaurus Rex of a hypercar is right?

You’d be exactly right about that. Utilizing Corsa mode (because setting up Ego mode would be a waste of time when all you want is everything set to be as irresponsible as possible) we put the mighty Lambo through it’s paces. We did some autocross on the infield part of the track to begin with, and we got a really feel for how nimble and dare we say agile the Aventador S is. When we first drove it through the canyons we felt a big difference in the nature of the handling compared to past models due to the rear-wheel steering, but on the track we got to see how much of a difference that made. The Aventador S is the size and weight of a T-Rex, but it moves and darts like it’s a velociraptor. Which at first is confusing, then becomes enthralling as you hear the V12 roaring behind you with the a full force of primeval nature.

Next we did the full circuit, which was the infield course and the high speed straights and turn on the track. At speed the Aventador S makes going from 0-60 mph feel like light speed, and when you realize that you’ve gone from 0-110 mph, it suddenly becomes clear that you have gone at light speed. The fastest we got the S up to that day was 155 mph+ (at 155 mph we had to take our eyes off the speedo and focus on the track more as the giant wall on the long sweeping turn got closer and bigger very, very quickly) and the Aventador wasn’t even straining. It could do more…a lot more…easily. That’s what’s scary, the car feels as solid, composed, planted and savage at 150 mph as it does at 50 mph, and at 150 mph the car isn’t breaking a sweat and has plenty of power to boot. Running the car through the full track, it was amazing to experience the full savagery of the Aventador, as the handling is sharp, the power and acceleration are reality-altering, and the biggest question you have is “How is this thing road legal?” We don’t know and we don’t care, we’re immensely grateful that somehow (probably a bribe or three) this car is able to exist, as it’s an experience that can be seldom rivaled by anything on the market.

So the real question is, is it a proper track car? The answer is no, as it was never intended to be, but we’d argue for the Aventador S, that’s a good thing. If you want a fully blown track car, you need a Porsche 911 GT3 RS or a Ferrari 458 Speciale, but then with those cars you give up the street car comfort and appeal. With the Aventador S, it’s a very fun and capable car to push around the track. But it is a road car first, so you’ll notice that in super tight turns. The Aventador S manages to carry it’s weight well, but if you’re used to driving lighter cars then you can certainly feel the extra heft of this car. But for what it is, the Aventador S is very impressive, as the rear-wheel steering give the car a surprising amount of maneuverability, the power delivery is savage and the car feels responsive and connected to the road. Unlike a lot of newer cars that try to hide all road sensation from the driver, the Aventador S channels all the feedback from the road through the seat and steering wheel, so you hands know what the front tires are up to and your butt cheeks know exactly what each of the rear tires is doing.

Now, no car is without fault, and the limited interior space vanishes the second you put a helmet on. The size of the car is a bit noticeable at first as well, but once you start tearing into corners the car doesn’t drive as big as it actually is. And the most divisive topic is the single clutch transmission. For many, it’s not smooth like dual clutch gearboxes. For us, we actually prefer the single clutch because it’s properly violent and feel far more raw, which makes the Aventador S stand apart and feel more old school. The only other V12 hypercar you can get with a single clutch feeling is a Pagani Huarya, and for one of those you’ll have to shell out the cash equal to 3 or 4 Aventadors, making it somewhat of a bargain. Somewhat, in the most relative terms possible.

All in all, the Aventador S is a fantastic machine, and is our favorite new hypercar on the market. While it’s true home is the roads, this car is a blast of a machine to thrash on the track and we’d highly encourage all owners to experience the fully might and fury of this machine in a rack environment at least once.

Cheers,

-JB

(Some pictures are courtesy of Scene 7 Films and Lamborghini)

V12 Badassery: The Aventador S Driven

August 29, 2017May 11, 2018 / Club R / 1 Comment

The are cars, and then there are supercars. Supercars are pure dream machines, they inspire the imagination with crazy looks and performance that’s the civilian version of fighter jet combat. Everything is dialed up to 10 and pushed to the extreme. Where can you go beyond that? For a car to do that, it would have to be in a rarefied territory as if it where some sort of Hypercar…enter the Lamborghini LP740-4 Aventador S.

The S stands for “S***************************!” which is what all your senses will be screaming when you experience this car. First, is the exterior look of this car. The S is a facelift refresh for Lamborghini’s flagship Aventador, so the front, sides and rear have been given more aerodynamic (which is Italian for “aggressive”) styling ques which have been inspired by sharks and cobra fangs. The pop-up vents to cool the engine have been replaced with fixed, SV style intakes and the exhaust is now a in a tri configuration as opposed to the quad pipes fitted into a single tip.

The interior gets a bit of an update as well, as the center console features a dashboard visual inspired by the Centenario and the seats have some new styling trim. Other than that, the most major changes are mechanical. The Horsepower leaps from 700 to 740 hp, which gives the already aggressive Aventador even more grunt. The most noticeable change is the inclusion of rear-wheel steering, which allows the rear wheels to turn 5 degrees each way. We’ll get to that later, because it’s a subject that requires fully diving into.

Firing up the V12 you feel as if you awaken an ancient dragon that’s roaring to life to let the world it’s kind is not extinct. As you would expect, the Aventador S is properly savage when acceleration, particularly in Corsa mode. New for the Aventador S is a 4th driving mode (Strada, Sport, and Corsa are retained from the previous gen) called Ego Mode, which allows the driver to customize the driving feel of the car. Want to have the hyper violent shifts of Corsa paired with the smoother ride of sport and not fully open the exhaust up like in Strada? No problem. The driver can pick and choose which driving dynamics from the 3 other modes they’d like for a custom tailored drive. For us however, Corsa was fine as we wanted the car to be experienced in it’s most ferocious V12 glory.

And that’s where the rear wheel steering comes into play. The Aventador of the past are excellent machines. They are big cars, and when you drive them you can feel the size which is something you have to be mindful of when cornering. With the real wheel steering of the Aventador S, the car suddenly doesn’t feel as massive in the turns and actually drives like a smaller car. It’s a really cool trick that allows the Aventador S to feel more agile and dare we say graceful. Don’t worry, the shifts in Corsa mode are still violent enough to smash skulls and the V12 bellows and barks, but the S has a dash of refinement to it. It almost feels slightly civilized, like a wild wolf in an Armani suit.

All in all, we feel the Aventador SV is still the ultimate version of the Aventador to date, as it is the most raw and hardcore. But the S is a fantastic machine that be both beauty and beast, civil and feral. It’s a proper dream machine and giant leap forward of an update for the Aventador, and it reminds us of why Italian V12s are always so special.

Cheers,

-JB

Weapons of Choice II: The McLaren 570S Spyder Vs The Lamborghini Huracan RWD Spyder Vs The Acura NSX

August 26, 2017May 11, 2018 / Club R / 2 Comments

If you recall from our test last year, we took out the McLaren 570S Coupe and the Lamborghini Huracan Spyder for a head-to-head line up. The Huracan won that contest, but it got us thinking this year that it would be more fair to make the playing field a bit more even. Spyder vs spyder, rear-wheel drive vs rear wheel drive, that should make the results a bit more interesting. And just to add spice to the mix, why not toss a wild card into the mix as well. This year we did just that with 3 supercars:

The Cars: Lamborghini LP-580 Huracan Spyder VS McLaren 570S VS Acura NSX

The Location: Carmel, California

The Lamborghini LP580-2 Huracan Spyder:

As Lamborghini fans we were exited to see how the real-wheel drive setup would impact the feel of the Huracan compared to the all wheel drive. Starting at $220,000, it’s $42,000 cheaper than the All-Wheel drive Huracan Spyder, so it has that going for it.

Compared to the All-wheel drive version, the Rear-Wheel drive Huracan is virtually identical in appearance except for the front and rear bumpers, which looks slightly more aggressive on the All- Wheel drive car. The Rear-Wheel drive car also has 30 less horsepower, so instead of the 610 of the All-Wheel drive version you have “only” 580 horsepower.

Turning on the Huracan is an event, as the V10 roars to life. The naturally aspirated engine provides instant power and terror and it’s nice to see that despite having less power than the All-Wheel drive, the same amount of punch is delivered. The handling is the hugest difference between the All-Wheel drive and the Rear-Wheel drive variants, as the LP580 feels more nimble and agile than the AWD version. The LP580 actually feels a lot like the McLaren 570S in how accessible the car feels, which inspires confidence as you throw it around the turns at speed. The RWD drive also feels more responsive to direction input from the steering wheel, making the car feel that much more impressive rather than terrifying.

The McLaren 570S Spyder:

When we drove the 570S coupe, we felt it was a solid car but not an exciting car. Over the last year we must admit the styling has grown on us a lot more (maybe because we don’t care for the front end of the big brother 720S), but if the Spyder was like the coupe, then we’d be in for a purely technical drive with subdued engine sounds and less-responsive-than-we’d-like-it-to-be braking.

Having our pick of Spyders to thrash, we opted for the smurf blue (Curacao Blue) which we thought was a stunning color on the car. Turning it on we heard the twin turbo-charged V8 growl to life, which was unexpected because the coupe we drove last year sounded subdued. The Spyder starts at $211,000, which is $16,000 more than the coupe, and we must say it’s more than worth it.

What we didn’t like about the coupe, the lack of emotion and sound, seems to be what McLaren directly addressed with the Spyder. The Spyder had all of the things we loved, which was the solid feel and confidence inspiring handling, but somehow the Spyder felt more analogue and connected to the driver. It was a bit weird because the McLaren is very anti-analogue: It’s got electric steering, a turbo charged engine and more computing power than silicon valley. And yet it somehow felt old school, playful and a little more raw. If we had been blind folded while in the coupe and the Spyder we would have sworn that they where to 2 completely different cars.

Did the 570S Spyder also address the other things we disliked about the coupe? Well, when it came to the brakes, not at all. The brakes still take too long feel like they’re working which forces you to radically adjust your braking zones because you know in your mind that they will work but you instinctively don’t rust them as the brake pedal has to travel a little too far for comfort. The exhaust note issue has been thoroughly and gloriously addressed, as the Spyder growls aggressively, especially when in track mode. The only other annoyance is that even while in track mode the transmission automatically kept shifting up, instead of letting us cruise in a lower gear. We know better than the machines and it annoys us when they take our power of choice away. If those two items get fixed in future updates of this car then the 570S Spyder is going to be tough for anything to beat.

The 2017 Acura NSX:

As fans of the original NSX, we must admit that we had mixed feelings about the new NSX before we drove it. We where excited to see the moniker return sporting some fun new technology, but we also were not exactly thrilled with how far away from the original NSX concept the new version deviated. The original NSX was about simplicity and superior handling. The concept for the new one seems to be more about the latest technology and driving aids over the pure driving experience, but we didn’t want to rush to judgement.

The NSX starts at $157,000 with only a few minor options, so what you see is pretty much what you get. At that price, it’s about $50,000 cheaper than the Lamborghini and the McLaren, so it seems to be the bargain car to buy. On the exterior the NSX was draped in a gorgeous red. Though we liked the color we felt the design of the NSX to be a little underwhelming…The original had a very unique look but the present generation one looks a little too much like the Audi R8. The interior of the NSX is small but fairly cozy. The ergonomics take a few minutes to get used to which is a stark contrast to the original, which was just a seat and manual transmission. But, we were not here to compare the new NSX to the old one, so compared to the McLaren and the Lamborghini, the interior did feel rather nice, though the Lamborghini’s was the easiest to navigate.

Firing up the NSX is not much of an event, as it starts up in silent mode. That’s perfectly fine if you want to start your car so your wife won’t hear you leave as you head to your girlfriend’s house, but if you compare it to the McLaren and the Lamborghini, both of those cars give you the feeling of the car coming alive, where as the NSX just lets you know that car is on with a change in the dashboard display.

Stealthily cruising our way out into the road in Eco mode, we put the car in sport mode and suddenly we heard a little life coming from the 573 horsepower V6, which is turbo charged. We took the NSX up a winding canyon road and we had to admit that it felt very solid when going around turns. While not the fastest feeling car the NSX does feel planted at speed as the AWD system works to ensure maximum grip at all times. So what is there not to like about the NSX? Not too much, which is a problem, because that’s the exact same answer when you ask the question of what is there to love about the new NSX? Not too much. The NSX is a good car, but in this day and age good isn’t good enough to be special. Especially compared to the McLaren and the Lamborghini. Sure they both cost a lot more, but those cars also feel uniquely special and magical in their own ways. The NSX is a great machine, but it doesn’t really standout in anyway, it looks too similar to another car, it sounds nice but not exceptionally special, and the driving feel is good, but nothing to brag about. It’s a grade A trying to compete in a field of A+ candidates, and that is where the NSX falls short.

The Verdict:

It was an interesting group, with all the cars having similar power but drastically different price points. Overall we still love the Lamborghini but were surprisingly impressed by how much more we love the McLaren 570S Spyder over the 570S coupe. The NSX is a bargain in comparison to the other two, but it seems to be a case of you get what you pay for as we where disappointed with how minimum level the car feels.

Ranking in 3rd place is the NSX. Despite having similar numbers and being a huge bargain over the other 2 cars, the NSX feels very minimum level for a supercar. It has the minimum level of speed, of handling, styling and sound to be a supercar. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a good car. But as we mentioned before, in this day and age, being a good car isn’t enough to make it stand out. Frankly we feel that the Lexus LC500 has more personality and feel and at $100,000 it’s more of a bargain than the NSX, so if you want a special car from Japan that may be the way to go.

In 2nd place, only by a few points is the McLaren 750S Spyder. We seriously love this car. Compared to the 570S Coupe we thought the 570S Spyder was 10 times more superior and it was a blast to drive. McLaren pulled off a very brilliant and difficult trick: They engineered the analogue feel into a car that isn’t analogue at all. In the smurf blue it looked really good, the exhaust note was amazing and car’s handling was sublime. Our only issues with the car are the auto-up-shifting from the transmission and again, the brakes where our biggest gripe. But no lie, we did spec one out for ourselves on McLaren’s website after our drive, we loved it that much.

In first place and still champion is the Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2 Rear-Wheel Drive Spyder (that’s a mouth full). The 570S Spyder gave it a great run for it’s money, but the Lamborghini was able to edge it out because it has the looks, sound and classic Lamborghini insanity in the feel of the car that makes it the definitive supercar. Paired with very responsive brakes and a transmission that will let you red-line the engine as much as you want all day long, the Huracan beats the other two on that front as well. The V10 is hard to beat, and with the feel of the rear-wheel drive matching the feel of the McLaren, that is what solidified the decision for us. If we could take all of these cars home we would take the McLaren and the Lamborghini, but if we could only choose one, we’d have to go with the Huracan.

Cheers,

-JB

Club R

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Club R Lifestyle Drive 4-29-2018

V12 Badassery II – The Aventador S Track Review

V12 Badassery: The Aventador S Driven

Weapons of Choice II: The McLaren 570S Spyder Vs The Lamborghini Huracan RWD Spyder Vs The Acura NSX